Rubies in the Sea
by jiangcheng
Summary: Humans will kill you. It is a universal truth whispered to merpeople by their mothers and fathers in the darkest of nights to warn them of the terror of man. Sunni didn't listen.


**The Quidditch League Competition: **Chaser 2 - Write about a character(s) who has the power to read something about people i.e minds/emotions/moods/colors etc

**A/N: **hello, i wanted to write about someone with those abilities but not have the focus be about using the powers but about a consequence of the powers.

**Prompts:** 6 - crimson, 7 - merspecies, 1 - sagittarius trait (Sagittarius-born are able to transform their thoughts into concrete actions and they will do anything to achieve their goals.)

**Word count: **1062

* * *

Humans will kill you.

It is a universal truth whispered to them by their mothers and fathers in the darkest of nights to warn them of the terror of man.

_They like pretty things, they like money, and they love power_, her mother said to her once a long time ago. Sunni only nodded as her mother picked out the finest pearls to fix upon her neck. She watched in silence until her mother turned around suddenly and fixed her gaze on her. She leaned forward and jerked Sunni's chin upwards with her hand. She sighed. _You, my dear, have all three._

She supposes she always knew this was how she was going to die. Maybe all the teasing statements her friends told her when she was a child and wandered too close to the shore had some truth in them.

She just didn't expect for it to hurt so much.

Humans lie and manipulate because they are greedy and can never be satisfied with what they have. She knows this. She's had this drilled into her skull all her life. How could she have forgotten and let her heart be swayed by the flowery words of a man.

Humans are cruel.

She lies there, hands and tail restrained by big, burly men as they rip the scales off her tail and collect her tears. She can't even enthrall them with her voice as they crushed her ribs and windpipe. She bleeds and bleeds and the humans collect as much of it as they can.

If she looks down all she sees is a sea of crimson.

Their hands are warm; they are too hot for the cold temperature of her body. There's bile rising in the back of her throat, but it can never make itself out through the crushed pipes. She thrashes with all the strength she as left but it's no use. The burning heat running through her body is unquenchable.

Their emotions flow through her and all she can feel is the greed seeping through their every pore.

There's a whisper of a memory in the back of her mind and she grasps onto it as hard as she can. The cold and harsh touch as her mother gripped her chin feels all too real, and the last words ring with clarity in her head.

_That's why you have to kill them first._

* * *

"Today is the day I'll kill you," she declares. There's a silence before Charles bursts out into laughter that he almost falls off the rock he's sitting on.

Charles is her human, her silly little human.

"And how many times have you said that?" Charles teases when Sunni crosses her arms in a huff.

She will kill him.

"This is wrong," she reminds him, but she has a nagging feeling it's more herself than for his benefit.

"You've been saying that for months now," Charles says as he beckons her closer. Sunni obliges and lets him warm her up as he gently holds her face in his hands. It's a heavenly caress.

Eventually, she'll do it. She'll sing and make him take his own life. Or maybe she'll kiss him and drag him under the water until the last thing he'll feel is her lips against his.

But she will kill him.

It's hard to do when she remembers how he came across her in a cove and his words were to admire her.

"How am I today?" he asks, his grey eyes twinkle.

Sunni rolls her eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were just using me for my ability."

Charles' eyes soften and he shakes his head. "Never," he speaks softly, "I've told you how I felt. I love you."

She wants to say she was joking and brush it off, but she wasn't. The truth in his statement resounds within her heart and she sighs happily. She's never told him about that little affinity she has. She doesn't think he'll like it very much if she tells him she can feel his emotions if he's touching her. For being very fragile, he's a smart human and will place two and two together and realize how she only asks him if he loves her when they're touching.

It's the only reason he's still alive because she can read him like a book.

But for now, she taps into her other skill.

"You're very lucky today," she says finally. "If you were placing any bets today, I'd say you have a hundred percent chance of winning. So whatever you will do today will work in your favor."

Charles smiles at that and places a sweet kiss to her forehead. His fondness overwhelms her and she tackles him into the water. Of course, she doesn't let him drown. She keeps him afloat and she sings for him.

He loves her and she loves him. It's too good to be true.

So as soon as she senses his affections change, she'll kill him then, but only when he stops loving her. Right now, though, he stays alive.

* * *

Her mother always said her disregard of the rules and warnings would get her killed. She wonders if after they find her body her mother will tell her corpse _I told you so_.

"I didn't think Charles was hiding something like this," one of the men say above her. "He told me yesterday it was how he was clearing up his debt. Apparently, she could read his fortune or something like that."

"Smart bastard," another one says. "No wonder he was dirt broke and now he's walking around filthy rich. He's getting married, you know, to the mayor's daughter. Seems like he won her over with his money."

The thing with her mother is that she never really explained Sunni's abilities well. She can sense emotions, but it doesn't mean she can sense if they're pure or not. She can feel love, she can feel warmth, she can feel greed, but she couldn't feel that Charles loved her skill more than her.

"Can you save a scale?" the one holding her wrists asks. "Charles said he loved her tail the most. Said it looked like rubies moving in the water. "

Humans will kill you, they say, and they're right.

She swims in a sea of crimson and lies.

But at least she'll die in a sea.


End file.
